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The  Story  of  the 

Yale  University  Press 

told  by  a  Friend 


"IT  SHOULD  BE  A  GOLDEN  RULE 

WITH  ALL  HISTORIC  PUBLISHING-HOUSES 

TO  PRESERVE  THEIR  ANNALS 

AND  IN  DUE  COURSE  GIVE  THEM 

TO  THE  WORLD. " 


THE  STORY  OF  THE 


YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


TOLD  BY  A  FRIEND 


^  P 


New  Haven: 

At  the  Earl  Trumbull  Williams  Memorial. 

Mdccccxx. 


COPYRIGHT  1920  BY 
YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 


Hie  Earl  Trumbull  TVilliams  Memorial. 


THE  STORY  OF 

THE  YALE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS  TOLD 

BY  A  FRIEND 


0) 

P 

c 


N  1908  several  people  began  talking  together 
about  starting  a  publishing  organization  in  con- 
neaion  with  Yale.  The  more  they  thought  of  the 
possibilities  in  it  the  more  interested  they  grew. 
They  saw  what  a  power  a  great  publishing-house  might 
become.  To  build  up  a  "Yale  University  Press"  seemed 
an  exciting  adventure,  when  they  thought  of  all  it  might 
do  for  letters,  and  for  scholars  and  scholarship. .  . . 

But  when  they  tried  to  carry  out  their  plans,  in  hard 
actuality,  they  had  to  begin  pretty  small.  The  first  quar- 
ters of  the  new  Press  were  a  pigeonhole  in  a  busy  man's 
desk,  and  this  desk  was  in  a  busy  office  downtown  in 

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Yale       New  York:  one  that  had  nothing  to  do  with  books, 

niversity  ^^ccpt  account-books,  and  grudged  the  Press  even  a 
Press. 

pigeonhole.  So  the  Press  moved  after  a  while  to  a 

building  near  Washington  Square.  There  it  had  a 
whole  room.  It  was  only  a  little  black  cave  of  a  room, 
but  it  was  a  great  advance  on  one  pigeonhole.  The 
busy  man  who  had  started  the  Press  couldn't  go  up 
there  often;  he  had  to  stay  down  in  his  office:  but  one 
of  his  family  went  and  sat  there.  And  she  kept  a  record 
of  all  the  Press's  work,  in  a  ridiculous  book,  four  by 
seven,  with  a  thin  cover  that  looked  like  butchers'  pa- 
per. This  was  the  cashbook,  ledger,  order-book,  ship- 
ping-book, and  general  record,  combined.  She  rushed 
down  each  morning  to  see  if  the  postman  had  shoved 
any  mail  through  the  slot  in  the  door;  and  when  some 
of  it  was  orders  she  had  to  telephone  downtown  at 
once  to  announce  them,  because  orders  make  you  hap- 
py when  you  are  starting  a  publishing  business.  One 
morning  there  was  a  splendid  order  for  thirty-one 
books,  and  it  took  her  all  day  to  get  them  tied  up  and 

sent  off  and  billed  for. 

6 


Nowadays  the  main  offices  are  in  New  Haven  in  a       Yale 
big  old  house  on  the  Green ;  *  and  there  is  a  branch  be-    '^"'^^''^'fy 

Press. 

sides,  in  New  York  (which  is  well  worth  a  visit)  and 
I  don't  know  just  how  many  hundred  books  it  would 
take  to  be  a  large  order,  now. 


II. 

The  world  of  books  is  the  most  remarkable  creation 
of  man.  Nothing  else  that  he  builds  ever  lasts.  Monu- 
ments fall;  nations  perish;  civilizations  grow  old  and 
die  out;  and,  after  an  era  of  darkness,  new  races  build 
others.  But  in  the  world  of  books  are  volumes  that 
have  seen  this  happen  again  and  again,  and  yet  live  on, 
still  young,  still  as  fresh  as  the  day  they  were  written, 
still  telling  men's  hearts  of  the  hearts  of  men  centu- 
ries dead. 

And  even  the  books  that  do  not  last  long,  penetrate 

*This  house  formerly  belonged  to  Governor  Ingersoll,  of  Con- 
neaicut,  and  was  built  about  1830.  It  was  purchased  as  a  home  for  the 
Press,  in  1919,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  T.  Williams,  in  memory  of  her  son, 
Lieutenant  Earl  Trumbull  Williams. 


Yale  their  own  times  at  least,  sailing  farther  than  Ulysses  even 
niversity  Jreamed  of,  like  ships  on  the  seas.  It  is  the  author's  part 
to  call  into  being  their  cargoes  and  passengers, — liv- 
ing thoughts  and  rich  bales  of  study  and  jeweled  ideas. 
And  as  for  the  publishers,  it  is  they  who  build  the  fleet, 
plan  the  voyage,  and  sail  on,  facing  wreck,  till  they  find 
every  possible  harbor  that  will  value  their  burden. 


Any  great  university  might  well  be  proud  to  go  in- 
to publishing.  Indeed  it  is  more  appropriate  for  uni- 
versities to  do  it  than  business  men. 


III. 

The  publisher  who  thinks  of  himself  as  a  builder  of 
ships,  will  naturally  care  about  designing  and  building 
them  well.  The  types  and  the  paper  and  the  bindings 
must  be  stately  and  strong — or  have  whatever  charac- 
teristics suit  the  contents  and  life  of  each  volume.  But  the 
Yale  University  Press  has  had  no  plant  of  its  own.  Each 
timethatitpublishcs  a  book  it  mustfirm  out  thiswork. 

8 


Through  the  aid  of  the  master  printers  who  work  for       Yale 
it,  it  has  produced  handsome  books;  but  it  has  needed   ^"^^^'^^'fy 

Press. 

at  least  a  little  press,  to  try  out  types  and  styles.  And  it 
has  wanted  much  more.  It  has  wanted  presses  enough 
and  a  bindery  to  make  its  own  books:  a  place  where 
men  could  work  and  experiment  in  the  old  craftsman 
spirit. 

In  most  printing-  and  publishing-houses  it  is  neces- 
sary to  put  money  first,  and  to  plan  as  a  rule  to 
make  the  most  profits — not  the  best  books.  But  print- 
ing is  more  than  a  business:  it  is  an  art  or  a  craft;  and 
it  should  not  be  learned  only  in  establishments  that  are 
conducted  for  profit.  To  be  sure,  a  man  can  get  a  good 
business-training  in  such  an  establishment:  he  can  also 
get  a  standardized  training  as  a  practical  printer,  and  in 
some  places  he  can  even  become  pretty  good  at  the  art: 
but  the  latter  is  subordinate,  necessarily,  in  a  commer- 
cial establishment.  And  there  ought  to  be  more  print- 
ing-houses in  the  world  where  it  isn't.  Printing-houses 
where  beauty  of  workmanship  and  design  would  come 
first,  and  where  the  object  would  be  to  make  each  book 

9 


Yale       perfect  if  possible.  Not  books  de  luxe  only,  but  every 
University    j^-^^^  ^^^^  -^^  -^^  ^^^  ^^^^ 

Press. 

Such  a  place  should  be  run  partly  as  any  business 

concern  should  be  run,  because  efficiency,  system,  and 
new  ways  to  check  waste,  repay  study:  and  partly  as  a 
laboratory  and  training-school  for  young  master  print- 
ers: a  school  where  all  kinds  of  experiments  can  be 
thought  out  and  tried. 

Under  the  will  of  Earl  Trumbull  Williams  the  Press 
has  now  received  a  bequest  which  has  enabled  it  to  in- 
stall the  beginnings  of  a  plant  of  this  kind.  But  any  fur- 
ther development  must  depend  upon  what  other  men 
do  in  helping  the  Press  to  go  ahead;  and  meantime 
things  must  wait.  If  the  Press  were  to  beg  urgently 
enough  for  it,  help  might  come  now,  but  the  help 
that  comes  reluctantly  or  as  a  charity  is  not  the  best 
kind.  The  best  kind,  of  course,  is  that  which  comes 
from  men  who  care  what  it  means,  and  who  like  to  be 
builders  of  something  that  is  really  worth  while,  and 
who  will  enjoy  watching  their  work  grow,  and  get  some 
fun  out  of  giving. 

10 


The  Princeton  University  Press  has  a  beautiful  plant,       ^'^^^ 

which  was  given  it  by  Mr.  Charles  Scribner  in  this  kind   ^"'^^^^^fy 

Press, 
of  Spirit.  At  this  plant  the  Princeton  Alumni  Weekly  is 

printed  and  some  of  the  undergraduate  periodicals. 
When  Yale  can  have  a  place  like  that,  the  undergrad- 
uates who  are  interested  in  pressrooms  can  come 
around  and  learn  how  to  print  a  paper  as  well  as  to 
publish  it.  Why  should  Yale's  youthful  editors  and 
reporters  have  so  much  chance  to  practice,  while  the 
artist  printers  that  Yale  might  be  training  have  no 
chance  at  all?  The  right  kind  of  printing  helps  as  much 
to  make  the  written  word  carry,  as  the  right  kind  of 
voice  helps  the  spoken  word. 

It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  every  man  who  writes 
knew  a  little  of  printing.  An  author  who  did  would 
know  how  to  prepare  his  manuscripts  properly,  which 
is  something  that  not  one  in  a  hundred  has  sufficient 
idea  of;  and  that  would  save  making  great  numbers 
of  needless  corrections.  These  avoidable  wastes,  all  of 
which,  of  course,  add  to  the  cost,  are  stupidities  that 

civilized  printers  should  try  to  eliminate. 

11 


Yale  IV. 

University   'pj-^^j.^  ^j-^  ^  number  of  other  useful  things  that  the  Press 

Press. 

wants  to  do.  Sometimes,  for  instance,  a  highly  trained 
man  appears,  hot  on  the  trail  of  some  research,  the  re- 
sults of  which  would  be  of  wide  interest  to  the  world, 
and  of  value,  but  which  he  can  do  little  or  no  work 
on,  because  he  must  earn  his  living.  If  the  Press  had 
the  funds,  it  would  first  make  sure  his  work  had  great 
worth,  and  then  it  could  advance  such  a  man  enough 
money  to  live  on — economically  it  goes  withoutsaying 
— until  he  completed  his  task.  To  be  able  to  step  in 
and  do  that,  and  then  publish  the  book,  would  be 
one  of  those  services  to  mankind  that  are  best  worth 
performing.  And  think  of  the  difference  that  this  help 
would  make  in  the  career  of  that  man :  how  much  soon- 
er he  would  be  advanced  to  the  rank  where  his  brains 
could  do  most,  and  how  much  more  fruitful  to  all  of 
us  his  life  would  thus  be. 

Even  small  sums  of  money  might  accomplish  large 
results  in  this  way.  And  large  sums  could  sometimes 
be  used  with  tremendous  effect.  The  fact  that  the  Press 

12 


Press. 


is  surrounded  by  such  expert  advisers, — the  men  on       Yale 
Yale's  faculties  and  others, — should  ensure  wise  ex-   University 
pending. 


V. 

I  was  saying  to  myself  the  other  day,  "What  is  Yale, 
after  all?"  A  spectator  might  describe  it  as  aplace  where 
young  men  go,  each  year;  and  where  older  men  teach 
them,  and  die;  and  where  others  replace  them.  But 
Yale  isn't  just  a  place  nor  those  men.  It's  much  more 
— or  it's  nothing. 

When  any  good  Yale  man  tries  to  answer  a  question 
like  that,  he  is  swayed  by  old  memories  and  old  feelings, 
and  they  sometimes  go  deep.  So  in  order  to  cut  out  any 
emotion  that  is  not  wholly  impartial,  let  us  ask  the 
same  question  about  other  places:  What  is  Harvard,  or 
Princeton.'' 

Well,  any  institution  that  a  lot  of  men  have  worked 
for,  and  loved,  becomes  a  liuing  force:  that  is  about  the 
only  answer  I  know.  What  kind  of  a  living  force  it  is 

13 


Yale       depends  on  the  way  it  affects  those  around  it.  And  that 
University    •  ^^  ^^^^  depends  on  the  kind  of  love  men  have  put  into  it. 

The  various  orders  of  knighthood  in  the  era  of 
chivalry,  the  monasteries  that  ardent  young  priests 
joined — they  were  all  living  forces.  Famous  regiments 
like  the  Black  Watch  of  Scotland,  or  Napoleon's  Old 
Guard — every  man  who  joined  one  of  them  felt  he 
was  more  of  a  man. 

This  has  been  true  of  Yale. 

These  intangible,  stirring  inspirations  come  into  ex- 
istence, only  when  men  have  given  themselves,  con- 
sciously or  not,  to  the  making  of  them.  Then — what 
strength  they  exert! 

In  the  old  Saybrook  days,  it  was  when  those  minis- 
ters came  and  gave  books,  that  the  thing  that  we  call 
Yale  was  born.  Their  gifts  and  the  spirit  behind  them, 
and  their  willingness  to  work  for  the  place,  and  their 
faith  in  the  good  it  would  do — thatvj2S  what  gave  it 
life.  Yale  was  only  a  small  force  at  first.  It  is  a  mighty 
one  now. 

And  the  Yale  University  Press  was  conceived  in  this 

spirit. 

14 


VI.  Yale 

I  don't  suppose,  when  Yale  started,  it  seemed  to  the   University 

Press 

neighbors  supremely  worth  helping.  It  was  only  a  little 
collegiate  school,  in  a  small  country  town.  But  if  you 
and  I  had  been  living  then,  and  could  have  foreseen 
what  Yale  was  to  be,  it  would  certainly  have  roused  us 
to  get  out  and  work  hard  to  strengthen  her.  We  should 
have  felt  that  one  of  the  best  and  finest  uses  we  could 
make  of  our  lives  would  be  to  do  anything  we  could  to 
build  up  such  a  place. 

It  is  the  Yale  Universit)^  Press  that  is  now  in  that 
stage.  It  has  greatness  ahead  of  it,  much  more  great- 
ness than  we  dream  of  perhaps.  But  today  it  is  young. 
A  few  men  are  putting  their  hearts  into  it,  a  few  more 
their  gifts,  or  their  interest  and  good  will.  It  is  grow- 
ing. It  will  all  be  worth  while.  .  .   . 


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Printed  at  the  Yale  University  Press  by 
Carl  Purington  Rollins,  Printer  to  the  University. 


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